Exploring Norse Mythology: Yggdrasil and the Nine Worlds

Oscar hell the world tree big Drusilla and the nine worlds from the depths of hell to the heights of Asghar the Norse cosmology is filled with an interesting mix of nine different realms all held in the branches and roots of the world tree egg girsl egg Drasil features in a number of different tales throughout Norse mythology including its eventual wilting during the events of Ragnarok the nine worlds are home to the various entities of the Norse tales from the Giants in Jotunheim to the elves and elf Fame this video will go over the tales concerning the world tree as well as an overview of the nine worlds and their denizens the creation of these various elements differs quite a bit and many of the myths about their origin remain unknown it's possible that egg drizzle has always been present in the cosmology in some form since the very beginning or it sprouted when Auden and his brothers formed some of the other realms what is clear is that in the beginning there were only the realms of MU spell Haim and Niflheim with the endless void of gonnago gap between them after Odin and his brothers slew Amir the primordial giant they used his corpse to create the world of Midgar as well as Asghar and possibly the realms of Alf Fame and svartalfheim it's unclear exactly when or how the other worlds were created and even which worlds comprised the nine is a subject of debate Edgar sue also known as the world tree is the center of the cosmos and contains all of the worlds in its branches and roots it is considered holy by the icier gods and they convene at the tree daily to hold court Odin hung himself from the tree for nine days in order to learn the magic of runes and also drank from a pool of water at one of its roots and in order to gain wisdom that well is one of three one located in Jotunheim one located in Niffleheim and the third located beneath the tree this third well known as the well of word meaning destiny is a holy place where three divine seers carve into the tree the destinies of all children a giant serpent need hogg dwells beneath the tree where it continually gnaws on one of the roots until the day of Ragnarok Odin also claims that more serpents live under aggressive than any fool can imagine and says that eager seal suffers agony more than men known not a great deal is said about what happens to Eve Drusilla during Ragnarok other than it will shake and groan Alfheim meaning elf world is the land inhabited by the elves of Norse mythology sometimes known as light elves this world is only mentioned in passing along with the elves themselves so not much is known about it but it is likely a land of light and beauty supposedly it was given to the God Freyr when he was an infant and it became his homeland the elves were often associated with the gods in some form and possessed powers that would make them akin to demigods apparently certain Germanic peoples would pray to the elves particularly for healing from illnesses belief in elves supposedly lasted for centuries possibly longer than worship in the gods Asghar meaning enclosure of the ice here is the home of the ice here gods the throne of Odin and the location of Valhalla many buildings here seem to be made of gold and the gods furniture and utensils were also made of gold each God is said to have their own Palace and Asghar and from his seat Odin can see over all the worlds Mahalo meaning Hall of the Fallen is a grand hall where the worthy warriors that died in battle are taken it is said that the roof of the hall was made from shields the rafters from Spears and it possesses 540 doors each wide enough to accommodate 800 men walking side by side when a warrior would die in combat and Odin deemed him acceptable to bring to Valhalla a Valkyrie would come down to take their spirit to Asgard Valkyries meaning choosers of the Fallen were female spirits that served Odin and some sources claimed that they would use magic to ensure that certain elite warriors would die in combat said that they could come to Valhalla in Valhalla these Warriors would spend their days fighting one another with their wounds healing each day and would feast and drink every evening when Ragnarok would come however these warriors were expected to fight alongside Odin in the grand battle after the construction of Asghar a giant Smith came to the gods and offered to build a wall around the realm to keep invaders out the Smith said that he could complete the wall in three seasons time and asked for the hand of the goddess Freyja in marriage in return the gods talked amongst themselves and told the Smith if he completed the wall in one seasons time he could marry fryi but if any part of the wall was unfinished by the end of the season he would lose his part of the bargain the Smith agreed using his incredible horse to help halt boulders to build the wall impressing the gods with three days left before the end of the season it became clear that the Smith would complete the wall in time and the gods needed to find a way for him to fail as they did not want to give away Freya to the Giants as Loki was responsible for agreeing to the deal they threatened him with death if he did not find a way to keep the Builder from finishing the wall Loki went to the Smith in the form of a female horse causing the Smiths stallion to break free from his harness and chase after Loki this event delayed the work for an entire day causing the Smith to fail his task the Smith flew into a rage causing Thor to appear and smash his skull in with his hammer hell was the underworld of Norse cosmology and the realm of the dead unlike Valhalla which only contained the spirits of the worthy warriors chosen by Odin hell contain the spirits of practically all others that passed away whether human or God rather than being a realm of torture and punishment hell is generally believed to be a continuation of life where denizens would continue doing many of the activities that they performed in life that is not to say that there weren't parts of Hell that were used for punishment those guilty of murder adultery and oath breaking would find themselves being continually chewed upon by the serpent need hog it would seem that gods could also visit hell while still alive generally using Odin's horse to travel down the trunk of Yggdrasil hell is ruled by the goddess also known as hell a daughter of Loki that was commanded by Odin to rule the realm of the Dead she is described as being downcast and fierce looking half black and half white or half alive and half dead in appearance and generally indifferent to the concerns of the living or the dead Jotunheim meaning giant world is the homeland of the yotan are also known as frost giants this world was filled with snowy mountains and dense forests along with the great fortresses of the Giants a massive river that never froze over separated Jotunheim from Asgard making it difficult for the Giants to launch an attack overall it is seen as a grim place where most are unlikely to visit the realm is ruled by King Thrym and the chief fortress there Utica is ruled by a great giant named Utica loki Midgar meaning middle enclosure or middle-earth is the name of Earth within Norse mythology it is located in the middle of the nine worlds and is surrounded by a massive ocean enclosed by a great wall made from Amir's eyelashes within the ocean wrapped around the world is the Midgard serpent Midgar was created by Odin and his two brothers from the corpse of Amir the first giant they also created the animals and humans that inhabit it Midgar is connected to as gaaah by a rainbow bridge known as the beaver oast used by the gods it is said that the Beave roast is constantly burning making it unusable for the Giants to walk on to get to Asgar moose PO hain is a realm of fire and is the home of the fire Giants moose Boheme was instrumental in the creation of the first giant and thus the creation of the world sparks from moose palain were also used by Odin to craft the Stars the ruler of moose Boheme is a great fire giant known as SERT who in the time of Ragnarok will lead a great host of fire Giants out of moose bow hain cert and his Giants will be responsible for breaking the Beave roast before search spreads fire across the world with his flaming sword nifflheim meaning world of fog is the opposite of moose Pohang and is a world of darkness mist and ice aside from its role in the creation of a mayor little is known about this realm although it is sometimes believed to be the same realm as hell it's volatile theme meaning world of the Dark Elves is considered by many to be a misnomer as it is commonly believed to be the homeland of the dwarves savate elf fame is generally depicted as a labyrinthine underground complex of many mines and forges the dwarves were known as legendary craftsmen capable of working with the most precious of metals they would build grand halls for themselves and were also employed by the gods to craft a number of items after loki mischievously cut off the hair of the goddess seif Thor's wife Thor threatened to break every bone in his body Loki went to the dwarves who managed to make a headpiece that replicated her hair they also crafted a binding to restrain the wolf Fenrir a ship that surpassed all others and Odin's spear boom near most notably however they crafted Thor's hammer Mjolnir capable of leveling mountains vana hain meaning world of the venire is home to another grouping of gods different from the icier known as the Vani not much is known about this realm at all and a number of different accounts and contradictions exist for the Vani or gods as a whole even the meaning of veneers lost some believe that the Vani or gods are associated more with nature and fertility than the icier gods while others believe that the Vani or gods are a relatively modern creation and weren't actually worshipped by Vikings some sources attest to a war between the icier and the veneer that ended up with the two Pantheon's combining into a single grouping regardless we possess practically no details about vana hain and it's debatable whether or not it's even one of the nine worlds well many of the details we have on the Norse cosmology are sparse or non-existent it paints a creative image of primordial realms alongside the worlds of gods and men these worlds and their inhabitants have inspired countless pieces of fiction over the years and it's easy to see why although it may be sad to think that we might never learn more about how the Norse peoples viewed the cosmos we at least have enough information to inspire discussion you

Channel: The Exploring Series

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Keywords: yggdrasil, mythology, norse, midgard, norse mythology, asgard, jotunheim, hel, thor, alfheim, odin, vanaheim, muspelheim, niflheim, nine worlds, norse mythology (literature subject), helheim, viking mythology, edda, loki, giants, aesir, norse cosmology, nine realms, svartalfheim, norse myth, valhalla, myth, vikings, story, cthulhu, cthulhu mythos, lore, exploring, explained, history, backstory, explored, explain, dwarves, elves, norse dwarves, norse elves, what is yggdrasil, what is the world tree, norse myths

Id: rvaFXGwAZys

Length: 14min 0sec (840 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 19 2018